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World Cup Snapshots: Dutch coach basks in Spain thrashing

Robin van Persie of the Netherlands (front) celebrates his goal against Spain with coach Louis van Gaal during their 2014 World Cup Group B soccer match at the Fonte Nova arena in Salvador June 13, 2014. (REUTERS/Michael Dalder)

SALVADOR, Brazil — Dutch bench boss Louis Van Gaal didn't just take credit for his side producing one of the most shocking results in World Cup history, he basked in it.

He said he "knew for sure" what Spain would do, made obvious by the 5-1 pounding the Netherlands put on the World Cup holders Friday night.

It wasn't Total Football, a system coined in the 1970s that sees Dutch players interchange relentlessly.

"The Dutch style is also about exercising patience and position play," Van Gaal explained post-game to media here in Salvador.

In its simple terms, Van Gaal knew Spain would press the game because Spain didn't try and keep it a secret.

Spanish midfielder Xavi told us prior to the match his side would "win or die" playing its own brand of offensive-minded, free-flowing soccer.

Spain manager Vincente del Bosque said much the same, assuring a room full of reporters La Roja wasn't afraid of anybody -- or anything, whatever that means.

As a result, Van Gaal knew his "Dutch triangle" up front might be able to exploit Spain on the counter -- and in isolation.

Think about it: With Spain's front six playing Tiki-Taka in the final third of the pitch, it left Arjen Robben, Robin van Persie and Wesley Sneijder to run wild on the much slower, much less agile Spanish centre back pairing of Gerard Pique and Sergio Ramos.

That said, Van Gaal knew in order to create that situation the Dutch had to be direct -- the opposite of "Total Football."

Or, as Van Gaal put it post-game, they had to "skip" the midfield -- something the Dutch did repeatedly, scoring three times in the process.

Three goals -- one from van Persie, the others from Robben -- came off long balls that split Spain's centre backs.

Ramos and Pique couldn't stop the Dutch duo in 1-on-1 and even 1-on-2 situations.

Post-match, some blamed Iker Casillas for Friday's 5-1 mess because he was terrible, too.

But what of del Bosque? What of a Spanish midfield that didn't look interested in defending after the break.

High above the pitch here Friday night I watched Spain's middle third simply walk back while its back four was getting ripped apart, the Dutch reporter next to me seemingly standing and applauding in exaltation every 10 minutes, which was bizarre by itself.

More bizarre, however, was how del Bosque allowed Friday night's match to turn into a small-sided game: His slow-as-molasses defence against some of the sharpest strikers in the game.

THE CASE FOR CONCACAF

Believe it or not, Saturday's Group opener against Uruguay was actually a good matchup for Costa Rica.

The Central Americans have given Uruguay -- still without Luis Suarez -- problems in the past, most recently back before the 2010 tournament when Costa Rica nearly knocked Uruguay out in an inter-continental playoff just to get to the World Cup.

Still, Costa Rica's 3-1 win over 2010's fourth-place finisher will go down as a "massive upset" because of the lack of respect CONCACAF gets.

Some European reporters here in Brazil didn't even bother researching Costa Rica pre-tournament. Their thinking: why research a side that's not going to collect any points?

Well, now the Costa Ricans sit atop their group thanks to three second-half goals from Joel Campbell, Oscar Duarte and Marco Urena in Fortaleza.

But it means so much more than just three points for Costa Rica, the country's first win at a World Cup finals since Italy 1990.

It means everything to CONCACAF, a confederation that is constantly trying to justify having a minimum of four teams at every World Cup.

But looking back at UEFA (Group G) World Cup qualifying, this is a Greek side that scored just 12 times through 10 games.

Greece got to this stage by only conceding four times through qualifying -- among the best goals-against average in the world.

More of a letdown than the result Saturday was how Greece conceded.

Pablo Armero's goal five minutes in occurred courtesy a lack of concentration. The second from Teofilo Gutierrez came off a poorly-defended corner. The third, from James Rodriguez, was a result of Greece's back four dropping far too deep.

It was uncanny of Greece. It's also possible the blue and white tried to actually play instead of sticking with what got them here.

MAN OF THE MATCHES

MLS referee Mark Geiger should be commended for how he handled Greece-Colombia.

What did Geiger do so well? He put the whistle away. He refused to let what might have been a 50-50 call change the game.

After watching what went down during Friday's Mexico-Cameroon match, when an assistant incorrectly called back two Mexican goals, Canadian assistant ref Joe Fletcher stayed out of the spotlight, too -- a solid day's work.